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The cover of Maps of Time: An Introduction to Big History

Maps of Time: An Introduction to Big History

David Christian

What does the history of the universe, life and humans, told as one connected story, suggest about our future?

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At a glance

Author
David Christian

Why read it

  • You will learn to plan with the future in mind while accepting that it cannot be predicted
  • You will see human history as one chapter of a longer story that begins with the Big Bang
  • You will understand why small uncertainties can pile up into large surprises

Who it is for

  • A busy reader wanting one frame for science, history and the future
  • A teacher linking the story of the cosmos to human history
  • Someone planning for long term change who must act without certainty

Contents

  1. Foreword
  2. Preface to the 2011 Edition
  3. Introduction: A Modern Creation Myth?
  4. PART I. THE INANIMATE UNIVERSE
  5. 1. The First 300,000 Years: Origins of the Universe, Time, and Space
  6. 2. Origins of the Galaxies and Stars: The Beginnings of Complexity
  7. 3. Origins and History of the Earth
  8. PART II. LIFE ON EARTH
  9. 4. The Origins of Life and the Theory of Evolution
  10. 5. The Evolution of Life and the Biosphere
  11. PART III. EARLY HUMAN HISTORY: MANY WORLDS
  12. 6. The Evolution of Humans
  13. 7. The Beginnings of Human History
  14. PART IV. THE HOLOCENE: FEW WORLDS
  15. 8. Intensification and the Origins of Agriculture
  16. 9. From Power over Nature to Power over People: Cities, States, and “Civilizations”
  17. 10. Long Trends in the Era of Agrarian “Civilizations”
  18. PART V. THE MODERN ERA: ONE WORLD
  19. 11. Approaching Modernity
  20. 12. Globalization, Commercialization, and Innovation
  21. 13. Birth of the Modern World
  22. 14. The Great Acceleration of the Twentieth Century
  23. PART VI. PERSPECTIVES ON THE FUTURE
  24. 15. Futures
  25. Appendix 1. Dating Techniques, Chronologies, and Timelines
  26. Appendix 2. Chaos and Order

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